Appleton relieved to claim first win

Michael Appleton picked up his first win as Blackpool boss against Peterborough

Michael Appleton breathed a sigh of relief after bagging his first win as Blackpool boss - thanks to a bit of help from his first signing.

The former Pompey chief had started his Tangerines reign with four successive draws, but his men had no trouble in pocketing maximum points with a 4-1 win against rock-bottom Posh at London Road.

Wes Thomas - snapped up on loan by Appleton from Bournemouth - opened his Blackpool account with the first goal that paved the way for a second-half demolition job. Thomas also played under Appleton on loan at his previous club Portsmouth.

Tom Ince took centre-stage by laying on Thomas' close-range header, converting a penalty soon after to double their lead and applying the final gloss with a glorious fourth goal.

In between two substitutes combined for a third - Angel Martinez the provider for Nouha Dicko to score - which killed off any threat of a Posh revival after Dwight Gayle had marked his home debut for the hosts with his first goal for the club.

Appleton said: "I have been delighted with the performances in every game since coming to the club, but it is obviously a relief to go away from a game with three points on the board.

"Of course I would have liked it to have come sooner but within the four walls of the dressing room we knew this result was coming because we have been dominating matches.

"Signing Wes might have caused a few eyebrows to be raised, but I knew he had the ability to play at this level and felt he deserved the chance to do it. And it was also nice to see a couple of substitutions pay off. Sometimes they can go against you, but they worked well."

Posh boss Darren Ferguson was unhappy with his side's showing after the break, saying: "It is impossible to come out and defend that second-half performance. It was one of the worst 45 minutes I've seen for a long time. Had we taken the golden chance in the first half then it may have been different, but any neutral watching that will have gone away thinking we are a team in trouble.

"The place was like a morgue because we didn't give our fans anything to lift them. We looked a beaten team the minute we fell behind and that is not something I can accept. We've got ourselves into this mess and we have to get ourselves out of it."